Vehicle communication system

Abstract

A vehicle communication system including a data communication module (DCM) that, upon detecting that a user's mobile telephone is not present onboard a vehicle, is configured to instruct a telecommunications server to forward calls made to the user's mobile telephone to the DCM of the vehicle. The DCM is further configured to instruct the telecommunications server to connect a telephone call that has been initiated by the user at the vehicle using the DCM of the vehicle.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A vehicle communication system comprising:
 a data communication module (DCM) that, upon detecting that a user's mobile telephone is not present onboard a vehicle due to failure of the DCM to pair with the user's mobile telephone that was previously registered with the DCM, is configured to wirelessly communicate with a telecommunications server:
 instruct the telecommunications server to forward calls made to the user's mobile telephone to the DCM of the vehicle; and 
 instruct the telecommunications server to connect a telephone call that has been initiated by the user at the vehicle using the DCM of the vehicle; and 
 
 an alert module configured to generate an alert to the user indicating that the user's mobile telephone is not present in the vehicle; 
 wherein the DCM is configured to detect whether the user's mobile telephone is present in the vehicle; 
 wherein upon the DCM detecting that the user's mobile telephone is not present in the vehicle due to failure of the DCM to pair with the user's mobile telephone that was previously registered with the DCM, the controller is configured to activate the alert module to generate the alert to the driver; and 
 wherein after the telephone call is complete the DCM is configured to instruct the telecommunications server to terminate the telephone call. 
 
     
     
       2. The vehicle communication system of  claim 1 , wherein the telecommunications server is remote to the vehicle. 
     
     
       3. The vehicle communication system of  claim 1 , wherein the DCM is further configured to instruct the telecommunications server to forward calls made to the user's mobile telephone to the user's work telephone when GPS data at shutdown of the vehicle communication system indicates that the vehicle is at the user's office. 
     
     
       4. The vehicle communication system of  claim 1 , wherein the DCM is further configured to instruct the telecommunications server to disable call forwarding when GPS data at shutdown of the vehicle communication system indicates that the vehicle and the user's mobile telephone are at the same location so that calls placed to the user's telephone number are directed to the user's mobile telephone. 
     
     
       5. The vehicle communication system of  claim 1 , wherein the mobile telephone is a mobile device including voice communication capabilities, the mobile device is any one of a smart phone, tablet computer, laptop computer, and wearable smart device. 
     
     
       6. The vehicle communication system of  claim 1 , wherein the DCM is further configured to instruct the telecommunications server to append a telephone number of the user's mobile telephone to the telephone call initiated by the user at the vehicle using the DCM when the user's mobile telephone is not present onboard the vehicle. 
     
     
       7. The vehicle communication system of  claim 1 , wherein the DCM is further configured to instruct the telecommunications server to terminate the telephone call initiated by the user when the user instructs the DCM to terminate the telephone call. 
     
     
       8. The vehicle communication system of  claim 1 , wherein the DCM is further configured to:
 pair with the mobile telephone when the mobile telephone is present in the vehicle; and 
 receive and initiate telephone calls using the mobile telephone when the mobile telephone is present in the vehicle and paired. 
 
     
     
       9. The vehicle communication system of  claim 1 , wherein the DCM is further configured to instruct the telecommunications server to connect the telephone call using a profile belonging to the user and stored at the telecommunications server. 
     
     
       10. A method for placing and receiving calls with a data communication module (DCM) of a vehicle communication system that is configured to wirelessly communicate with a telecommunications server, the method comprising:
 determining whether a user's mobile telephone, which has been previously registered with the DCM, is present onboard the vehicle; 
 instructing the telecommunications server to forward calls made to the user's mobile telephone to the DCM of the vehicle, when the user's mobile telephone is determined to not be present onboard the vehicle due to failure of the DCM to pair with the user's mobile telephone that was previously registered with the DCM; 
 instructing the telecommunications server to connect a telephone call that has been initiated by the user at the vehicle using the DCM of the vehicle; 
 activating an alert module of the vehicle communication system to alert the user that the user's mobile telephone is not present in the vehicle when the DCM determines that the user's mobile telephone is not present in the vehicle due to failure of the DCM to pair with the user's mobile telephone that was previously registered with the DCM; and 
 instructing the telecommunications server to terminate the telephone call after the telephone call is complete. 
 
     
     
       11. The method of  claim 10 , wherein said instructing the telecommunications server to forward calls is performed using the DCM. 
     
     
       12. The method of  claim 10 , wherein said instructing the telecommunications server to connect the telephone call is performed using the DCM. 
     
     
       13. The method of  claim 10 , further comprising instructing the telecommunications server to forward calls made to the user's mobile telephone to the user's work telephone when GPS data at shutdown of the vehicle communication system indicates that the vehicle is at the user's office. 
     
     
       14. The method of  claim 10 , further comprising instructing the telecommunications server to disable call forwarding when GPS data at shutdown of the vehicle communication system indicates that the vehicle and the user's mobile telephone are at the same location so that calls placed to the user's telephone number are directed to the user's mobile telephone. 
     
     
       15. The method of  claim 10 , wherein the mobile telephone is a mobile device including voice communication capabilities, the mobile device is any one of a smart phone, tablet computer, laptop computer, and wearable smart device. 
     
     
       16. The method of  claim 10 , further comprising transmitting an instruction from the DCM to the telecommunications server instructing the telecommunications server to append a telephone number of the user's mobile telephone to the telephone call initiated by the user at the vehicle using the DCM when the user's mobile telephone is not present onboard the vehicle. 
     
     
       17. The method of  claim 10 , further comprising transmitting instructions from the DCM to the telecommunications server to terminate the telephone call initiated by the user when the user instructs the DCM to terminate the telephone call. 
     
     
       18. The method of  claim 10 , further comprising:
 pairing the mobile telephone with the DCM when the mobile telephone is present in the vehicle; and 
 receiving and initiating telephone calls using the mobile telephone when the mobile telephone is present in the vehicle.